The difference between two summers

Thanks everyone!

mrsghosh wrote: »

Great job..what was your routine and diet plan?

Oh boy, this is really going to be a jumbled mess. I can't even type out an exact plan, because I didn't stick with just one thing. It was a very up and down journey. I started out with doing C25K a few months after my last baby (I have three kids), and ran in the Color Run. When I got bored with running I'd do a workout at home, like Pilates or 30DS. 30DS was really hard on my knees (I've got a lot of metal in there), so I would take breaks and do body weight exercises. I've used MFP on and off over the years to track calories, and that was a huge eye opener in getting my portions back under control. I've found that for me, calories in/calories out is the absolute best approach to losing and keeping off the weight. I learned my lesson when it comes to sugar detoxes and being too restrictive with my food. It makes me miserable and sets me up to binge.

I've also tried T25, PiYo, and a few other beach body programs, but honestly the only one that didn't tear up my knees was PiYo. That's the only BB program I've come close to completing in the last two years. I refuse to waste my money on shakeology or other meal replacement type shakes. They are hard on my stomach, taste gross, and aren't as satisfying as just eating real food. I joined our local YMCA and would basically go and just do cardio. It was more a break from parenting than focusing on changing my body or bettering my health at that point. Sanity saver.

At the beginning of this summer I cancelled our Y membership and bought a treadmill off of craigslist. It's been the best $100 I've spent. I use my Fitbit to track my steps, my polar ft4 to track exercise calories, and walk/jog/run 4-6 days a week. It's my "me" time. I have a small set up of Dumbbells and bands, and use fitness blender to find workouts to do at home. It's just been a very flawed, slow transformation. I'm human, and fall off the healthy wagon, but I get back on. I know it's not a huge inspirational loss story, but it's mine and I plan to keep going.